Measurement of the polarization of tau leptons produced in Z decays

Abstract The polarization of τ leptons produced in the reaction e + e − → τ + τ − at the Z resonance has been measured using the τ decay modes e ν e ν τ , μν μ ν τ , πν τ , ϱν τ , and a 1 ν τ . The mean value obtained is P τ = −0.152±0.045, indicating that parity is violated in the neutral current process e + e − → τ + τ − . The result corresponds to a ratio of a neutral current vector and axial vector coupling constants of the τ lepton g V τ (M 2 Z ) g A τ (M 2 Z ) = 0.076±0.023 and a value of the electroweak mixing parameter sin 2 θ w ( M 2 Z ) = 0.2302 ± 0.0058.